Apr 29, 2012

Post-Processing Workflow in GIMP

Introduction

After going through a few thousand photos from a holiday trip, I developed a post-processing workflow that makes this activity less frustrating. It consists of the following steps:

rotate and correct perspective;

remove unwanted elements;

adjust contrast and colors;

resize and sharpen.

Of course, most of these steps can be made unnecessary with proper equipment and set-up. But if there was no time to do things right while on holiday, spending a few minutes on post-processing can considerably improve the results.

I used free software — the GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) — for the entire workflow. You might find this guide more helpful if you have used the GIMP before (or are willing to read the manual). However, the ideas outlined here should work with any advanced image manipulation program, usch as Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom.

A word of caution — always make backups of images. When working with an image, duplicate the working layer before applying any transformations. If something goes wrong, this can save you some time and pain.

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